Bali an architectural delight!

Streets littered with symbols of devotion, no locked doors, rustic environment and a place where you neither feel threatened nor have a desire to be aggressive. This is how I would sum Bali in a sentence. It is a beautiful island, and humans have fortunately instead of only exploiting nature, let it grow in harmony. Be it the protected mangroves along busy roads; banyan trees protruding around expensive resort walls; intricately designed, devotional pedestals where old ladies burn incense and offer flowers to their god or a friendly stray dog sitting next to you at the beach.

The spirit of Bali has a lot to do with the cultural richness and indigenous construction language. Bali has retained its traditional essence despite the demon of globalization, which appears in the shape of McDonalds or KFC here and there. Nevertheless, the Balinese have not let globalization be their defining characteristic.

A speaker at the ARCASIA 2012 event quoted, "In 1970, a rule was introduced that if you want to build a hotel in Bali, it should not be taller then the coconut tree." It is such rules and regulations as well as the dedication of the people that makes Bali an architectural delight in its truest sense.

A delegation of 28 Pakistani architecture students from 5 universities participated in Bali ARCASIA 2012, numbering the highest among all visiting countries. Out of 28, eight students of Visual Studies Department, University of Karachi participated in the event, making it the first group of students to represent the department after it was regularized by the KU last month. Other visiting delegates include Bangladesh 15, Phillipines 13, Sri Lanka 10, Malaysia eight, Thailand five and two each from India, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Laos and Mongolia. A total of 15 countries participated in the Student Jamboree and 18 in the ARCASIA conference for professional architects. Again Pakistan topped the list with the highest number of architects, all members of the Institute of Architects Pakistan (IAP). Chairperson IAP Shahab Ghani